Dear Tom,
Has a tropical storm's name ever been retired?
Tom Urban Oak Park
Dear Tom,
It's happened only once and that was Tropical Storm Allison, which made landfall near
Houston on June 5, 2001. Though never achieving hurricane status, Allison, with top
winds of only 58 m.p.h., was a slow-moving and prolific rainmaker much like recent
Tropical Storm Fay. The storm brought more than 36 inches of rain to the Houston area
as it meandered for days along the northeast Texas coast. After drowning Texas,
Allison's heavy rains tracked across the Gulf Coast region and then turned northeast
into southern New England and the Canadian Maritimes. It finally headed out into the
Atlantic on June 18.
In addition to catastrophic flooding, Allison produced 23 tornadoes and was
responsible for at least 50 deaths and $3 billion in property damage.
